The Big Red R: One Mouse's Story of WWII
by 75knicksallday
Summary: This is the memoir of an average Mossflower mouse, Flesson, and his experiences with the legendary 1st Infantry Division, "The Big  Red R" From his first days to the end of the war and his struggle not only with the enemy, but his battle within himself.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody. I'm a big WWII and Redwall junkie and got really inspired after reading Patchyman's great story, Doors of Fire, Please gimme some feedback and any suggestions in Reviews are definitely welcome.

Chapter 1

"I haven't eaten anything since we left the ship, I'm gonna faint in this heat without some food and water!" Immediately the rat who had spoken dramatically slumped back in his seat and let the rifle he was holding loosely dangle from his paws. I had to admit I was pretty hungry too. There was such a rush to hit the beach this morning we hadn't had any breakfast. Before we got to stealing from the mess, they shoved us onto a truck and we were off.

"Shut it Scabber," said a bulky hedgehog a few seats to my left. He scratched himself and removed his helmet to wipe his brow. "None of us have eaten."

"Well I'm a big rat that's all. Can't fightin the Radicals wait? I bet they've had a big breffist"

"Well when we meet em, we'll stop for some morning tea then," said the hedgehog. The rest of the cart, laughed. Scabber simply turned red and slouched a little more in his seat.

The laughter died down and it grew silent again, the only noise the creaking of the cart wheels over the road. Dawn was slowly giving way to morning and I couldn't help feel awed at the sight. The road we were on was right near the ocean and that coupled with the sun made it an incredible sight. I had to admit that I was a pretty lucky mouse getting to see the world and get paid in doing so. The Radicals knew where to fight. I tried to take it all in and capture the image. I desperately wished for a camera, but it was still sitting in my duffel bag on the beach somewhere. I really considered myself right there the luckiest beast on the world. This was one of life's greatest adventures and me, a plain old mouse from the middle of Mossflower was in the desert and seeing all there was to see. I unbuckled my chinstraps on my helmet and looped them around the back of my helmet, the way I had seen the older soldiers do. What happened next caused my head to spin and shattered my daydreams and my gung ho attitude. To this day It still haunts me.

I wish I could just keep watching the ocean.

I don't know how long I just stared at the passing palm trees and expanses of water but I was suddenly jolted from it by a scream.

"OH Hell! OH HELL!"

It was a lanky stoat who was staring out at something a few feet ahead of us in the road. He had dropped his rifle and was reeling back from the side. He looked greener then a frog. Everyone craned their necks over the side of the truck to try and get a better look. Even Scabber managed to quickly shift himself and stare out.

There was a body lying in the middle of the road. It was wearing a Mossflower Uniform and had the same shoulder patch as I did. A light green shield with a big red R. The 1st infantry division, the Redwall Division. His rifle lay a few feet away and his helmet was opposite that.

His head was no where to be seen…

Nobody could tell what he was. His tail looked like a weasel, but then again his fur was a slightly darker shade. His body was untouched, no bullet marks or holes or anything, just no head. We drove by in silence but even the driver lost a little control as we swerved around it. Everyone sat back down. The big hedgehog didn't try and make any jokes this time. We all just sat there. I turned back to the ocean and the panorama of the beach but it didn't really appeal to me. Suddenly traveling the world wasn't as great as I thought. I wanted to go home and forever take that image, my first casualty of the war out of my head and just forget all about it.

Mossflower Wood seemed a long ways off.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the errors and typos in the last chapter, but cut me so some slack I'm new at this. Anyhow, please please PLEASEE Review. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Chapter 2

After another hour or so in the back of the truck, we were finally let out. All of us were cramped and sweaty when we finally clambered out the back and now it was beginning to get hot. Aside from Scabber sneaking a few rations from his pack into his fat face, none of us had eaten.

"Right you lot ATTENNNNNSHUNNNN!"

Food was forgotten as we quickly clambered to fall into formation. A Huge Badger, (all e badgers are huge, but this one was MASSIVE) His captain's bars were clear on his helmet and he was flanked by two lieutenants; One a mouse who was just about my height, and the other stringy looking ferret. They stopped a few feet away from the captain and quickly surveyed us with a dull glare. They looked tired, dirty, and their helmets were pockmarked with all sorts of dents and dust.

"At Ease!"

We all relaxed. The badger made a quick trip down the ranks seeing what Mossflower had managed to churn out. He didn't give away any twitches or sighs of disappointment. After the quick inspection he marched back to his two lieutenants and they moved out of earshot for some sort of conference. We all looked around and pretty soon everyone had their own ideas of what was in store for us.

"The captain has the looks of a mortar-man, four deucers for us I bet!"

"Are you daft, we haven't been trained for any kind o mortars! I guarantee we'll just be regular old cannon fodder. Infantry for sure"

"They've been cross-trainin troops for other stuff. My brother is in Western Sea fightin those Cats and hes been workin with the artillery"

"I don't care what we're doin as long as we get some damn food!"

"SHADDUP SCABBER!" Everyone screamed in unison, myself included. Scabber again turned a beet red and again started to secretly munch some of his rations.

A squirrel glanced back at the meeting the captain was having. The mouse lieutenant glanced over and gave a fiendish looking grin at him before returning to the conversation. The squirrel turned white and gulped.

"Oh boy I bet we're r really in for it now," he said trying to stop himself from shaking.

"He's probably just messin with us," said the hedgehog who had joked about Scabber's whining on the truck ride over. He put his shoulder around the squirrel. "Don't worry mate I'm sure it won't be half as bad you think."

The rest of us boldly chimed in and there were plenty of remarks about how officers were wrong half the time and how ugly they were. I joined in of course, but in my mind, I couldn't help but think about that poor bastard lying on the side of road.

"_Will I end up like that?" _

I instantly had visions of me bleeding out on some desert street somewhere while the wolves closed in all around me.

"Stow it mates, the captain's comin back!"

My dream quickly evaporated as the badger marched back towards us. He stopped a few feet from us and gave one last glance before diving into his introductuctions

"Right I'm Captain Cragg. Address me asyou would any officer, I have no nicknames hogwash like that. My job is to make sure you do your jobs. And our jobs right now are killing those wolves, and driving them out of Jerbica and back to where they crawled from!"

At here he paused and noticed the smiles and few cheers that rang out. Seemingly satisfied, he continued.

"As members of Company B, 16th regiment, 1st Division you will rely on one another and work together. I don't mind any ribbing or joking but serious problems will result in instant KP duty for both parties until I fell you are ready to grow up and make amends."

Here again he paused and glanced over at Scabber and then the hedgehog. Both sheepishly looked away and rubbed their necks. Scabber turned red for the third time that day.

"_What else did he here?" _

Captain Cragg stiffly turned away and went back to speaking.

"I run a strict company here and expect nothing but the best effort and hard work out of you. But today I'll let that slide. Lieutenants Mavrel and Splitpaw will guide you too your barracks and then you can grab some hot chow. Spend the rest of the day orienteering yourselves and making sure all your belongings are in order. Tomorrow's briefing will commence at 0700 sharp. Falcon's Point isn't the greatest town in the desert, but it will be your home for the time being. COMPANY DISMISSED!

Cragg quickly marched over to a nearby jeep and soon he was off in the distance.

Lieutenant Mavrel, the mouse, quickly took charge of the scene

"Right boys you just follow me and Lt. Splitpaw here and we'll be eatin in no time. Ever have a desert pear drenched in honey and fresh milk? "

War was starting to sound good again.


	3. Chapter 3

I learned a lot my first few weeks at Falcon's Point.

I learned that I had to shake my boots out every morning in case there were scorpions in them.

I learned how to live withthe constant taste of sand and how it coated everything and anything.

I learned all about the Jerboas and bits of their language and how to be polite and if needed ,drive em away.

Most importantly I learned about my fellow soldiers who would become some of my best friends a and who many would end up in the Dark Forest in the seasons to come.

The hedgehog who made the jokes about Scabber was Thistle. He lived towards the Great South Stream and was his town's local plumber. Grib the weasel was further north, close to the mountains where he had done some traveling before the war and owned an a curio shop. There was Polter, Dagby, Bluenose, Jeggo, and the rest of em. So far we were doing pretty well, ( I thought anyhow) for the new beasts. We had gone on some patrolling and even fired a few shots, but nobody had gotten hit or hit anything. Aside from that first day, we hadn't seen any one in the company or even the regiment for that matter be wounded or killed. A rat over in C company got a dent in his helmet from a lucky potshot from the Jerboa. It seems as though the enemy had just let us get settled and so far none of us were complaining. However we all knew that eventually, there would be some sort of offensive, whether from us or the enemy.

It came a lot sooner then any of us expected.

I settled into my usual seat in the Ops Tent for the morning briefing. Grib settled down next to me still rubbing bags from his eyes. He still had a mug of mint tea from the mess and slowly started taking sips. ?

"Rough night"

" We played Shove Acorn till all hours mate."

"I thought Sharptail won. I left after that."

"He did but I went over to A company and played with a few beasts over there until somebody noticed the sun was comin up. I ran back to me bunk just in time and was just getting settled when Reville went off."

I couldn't help but laugh. Grib was usually cranky in the mornings and had even filled the regimental bugle with pepper just for a few minutes of extra sleep. This time he had cooked his own goose.

"Well," I started "At least you can grab some rest on the patrol. We'll probably just weave through the valley and loop back like we did the other day."

"mmm," mumbled Grib. He shifted himself in the seat and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when this is over."

"ATTENSHUN"

Grib neary spilt his tea all over his pants in an effort to quickly stand. Luckily no one was burnt. Captain Cragg marched swiftly up to the stacked crates he used as a makeshift podium.

"Sit down."

We all did as instructed. Grib settled snuggly into his seat and once again proceded to close his eyes. A couple of other beasts did the same. And why not? It was going to be the same story as it had been the past few weeks, nothing but a routine patrol. Cakewalk.

Or so we that.

The captain wasted no time.

"I'm going to make this a brief as possible, we've got a real assignment on our paws here."

He signaled the shrew operating the projector to close the tent flap. Immediately the little light coming in from outside vanished and the place was plunged into darkness. The projector hummed and whirred to life and soon we were presented with the familiar map and all its arrows and bars marking troop movements and other logistics.

Cragg used an old rifle cleaning brush as a pointer and tapped one spot on the map.

"Kasserine Pass is a vital location." We've been slowly moving our troops there until we can completely control it and shuttle our boys through it and start turning northwards."

He nodded at the shrew in the back again. The slide changed and we were presented with a picture of the pass up close.

"The 18th has been moving in all week and just last night they were hit with some tough resistance. They've been limping back here in scattered pockets all morning. We are going to get up there on the double and retake that pass."

People were wide awake now. Even Grib stopped his little snooze and was nervously trying to down his last bit of tea.

"We've got two full Radical Divisions up there plus Panzers. Make no mistake this is gonna be a rough one."

_Weeks of scrub patrols and now this? This isn't fair at all! _

_**This is what you signed up for isn't it though? **_

Cragg signaled the shrew on the projector one last time and he shut it off and quickly opened the tent flap.

"I want everyone in a truck in ten minutes. Take only your field gear. DISMISSED"

Without a word the captain soundlessly bounded from the podium and out the door already putting on his helmet and strapping on a bandolier. We quickly filed out of the tent in a hustle to grab our gear. Grib had finished his mug of tea and was now wide awake and headed back to our tent to grab a few more things. I ran with him

"This is it then."

"Was going to happen sooner or later, this is a war after all."

"Couldn't it happen later?"

Grib just gave me a quick stare and quickly turned away. We had arrived at our tent and began to gather all of our gear.

Helmet?-Check

Rifle and ammo?-Check

Spade, Rations, Canteen, field glasses, pencil and paper, matches,spare shirt, and socks? -All checks

I couldn't help feel like something was amiss and I suddenly felt a warm sensation down my leg. Soon my trousers were soaked.

_New pants and undergarments? _

Luckily Glib had left and I quickly changed before hustling out to the trucks and the thousands of Radicals that lay ahead of us. I rechecked all my gear and clambered into a truck where Lt. Splitpaw  
>was waving. He ticked my name off a small list and motioned to the driver that he should start. We slowly began to head down the town's main road and towards Kasserine Pass. Nobody had said a word. We all just sat there not aware of what was in store for us. It was our first day all over again. Most of the beasts weree just trying to keep busy: cleaning rifles, adjusting helmets, and patting pockets to make sure everything was there. One soldier though, the squirrel whom Lt. Mavrel had spooked was sitting with both legs crossed and squirming in his seat. I caught his eye and he just grinned sheepishly. I gave him a reassuring grin back.<p>

At least I wasn't the only one.


	4. Chapter 4

Kasserine Pass was already ablaze before we even dismounted from the trucks. Driving we could see the tanks in the distance driving towards the pass and with my field glasses I could pick out the individual soldiers clinging to the hulls and many more following in the wake of all those tanks. Artillery shells burst in the distance and we passed crews feverishly firing and reloading over and over. The situation looked grim for sure. The worst had to be the poor bastards from the 18th regiment who were pulling out towards the rear. Most of them were missing helmets, rifles, packs, and I saw one otter who had lost both his boots and awkwardly hobbled over the sands. The passing soldiers didn't say anything as we passed, merely gave us some blank stares. They didn't inspire much confidence in us. But then again why should they be?

_BOOM BOOM BOOM _

The explosions were getting louder now. That meant we were getting closer. I suddenly fancied myself tucking and rolling off the back of the truck and taking off after the beasts pulling back, but I knew it was just a dumb pipe dream. Soldiers fought. That was their job. It's been going on well

_Since the time of Martin the Warrior? He's the oldest one I know. Every Dibbuns hero. _

_Hell, he's still a hero to me now, __**especially now**_

As we continued down the road, we came upon the more unfortunate soldiers. Many were bloodied and a few were missing a limb. They were being carted into ambulances and on the hoods of jeeps by the last medics to make sure everyone got out. One such victim was a fox who lay on a stretcher being carted into the back of an ambulance. Right below the knee, his leg lay dangling by a few strips of flesh. It was particularly nauseating but when we passed he gave a weak smile and raised his rifle as for a final salute.

We all followed suit.

By the time the trucks let us out we were at a high point on the pass. A ridge overlooking the valley directly at the mouth of the yawning pass. The town of Kasserine lay some miles to our east and to our knowledge, The Radicals had captured it although no one knew for certain. We were simply told by Cragg to dig in and resist any attacks directed our way.

"We will be getting any tank support sir?" someone had asked.

Cragg rubbed his eyes with one paw and quickly came up with an answer.

"The Samkins will be busy ahead of the infantry dealing with Panzers down in the valley. They wont be able to climb this high so our job is to hold off there infantry support and then push towards the town of Kasserine"

We all let out a groan at that. The M-3 Samkin, or Samm as it was commonly called was a fine tank….. For dealing with infantry. It real mobile and its two machine guns were great covering fire. It's main gun and armor however, were woefully less than that of the Panzer. They would be perfect for helping us deal with any infantry attack, but instead they would be fighting a next to useless battle in the valley against their better counterparts

Cragg was aware of our groaning and attempted to reassure us that some of the artillery boys had been diverted to help us out.

"How many?" said Scabber

Cragg simply mumbled something under his breath and hurriedly went off to check on the other platoon.

The lot of us were just real disgusted at the whole thing. Scabber especially threw off his helmet and started cursing. I just gripped my rifle a little tighter and tried to relax.

"Alright boys," said Lt. Mavrel. " You heard the Cap'n, find a hole and hunker down. We don't know when those wolves are gonna make the push but we don't wanna get caught with our pants down."

_Or pants wet again…. _

About an hour or so later I found myself crouched in a hole with Grib and Thistle. Thistle had a 30 Caliber machine gun placed at the lip of the hole and gripped the handles as tight as he could. Grib had taken to finally getting a nap and had his helmet pushed down over his eyes and his arms folded around his head. I just made sure I stayed awake by munching some of my rations and taking a few pictures with my camera. Thistle put on his best tough face when I snapped one of him and we both laughed when Grib didn't even so much as flinch when we took his picture.

"Hey Flesson!"

I turned and saw a stoat jogging towards me. It was the very same one who had first seen that body on our arrival in Jerbica. He clambered into the hole and slowly set down the large crate he was carrying.

"There's plenty of belts in there for your 30," he said, wiping his brow. "You're the last hole I stopped by."

"Thanks Wemege, you need anything? Extra clips, or anything like that?"

"Naw we're stocked . But take a picture of me will ya. I'm happy somebody brought their camera."

I grabbed my camera and adjusted it, ready to take the shot when Wemedge held up his paws.

"Hang on lemme get my Ma's scarf she sent, just to prove her I wore it once."

Wemedge quickly clambered out of the hole and started to jog towards his hole.

WHUMP! WHUMP!

Out of nowhere two bullets slammed right into Wemedge before he could dive or duck or do anything. I dropped my camera and reeled back fumbling for my rifle.

"HERE THEY COME!" shouted Thistle who quickly flicked off the safety and started to fire.

The Battle for Kasserine Pass had begun.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey Everybody. Thanks again for reading, I'm surprised so far. PLEASE PLEASE review though. I can't stress that enough. Feedback is really great and I attend on making this quite a long story. Finally some action this chapter, I'm sure people can't wait for that.

Its funny how one minute your taking pictures and lounging about in the sun, and the next, every beast is screaming and firing round after round into a foe that just appeared right in front of you.

After Thistle started firing I grabbed my rifle and fired off a whole clip just out of sheer nerves and fright. I doubt I had hit anything. It was hard to tell if any beast had hit anything. The air was already thick with smoke and sand and the wolves became difficult to see. Me, Thistle and Glib, ( who had woken up just in time) found ourselves coughing and spitting out bits of sand. The wolves had the right idea. Most of them were wearing goggles and wrapped a thick scarf around their muzzles to better handle it all. Everytime we saw that sinister masked figure loom in the distance we shot. None of us were concerned about saving our ammo or anything like that. Round after round we fired at the enemy.

I definitely got one of the Radicals however. He was crouched near the top of an abandoned pit and he had his submachine gun sweeping back and forth the rest of the plain, looking for someone else to shoot. He wasn't wearing a mask or goggles or even a helmet, just a cap was perched on his head. He didn't even to seem to have any sand or dirt on him. He looked completely out of place amongst all the chaos going on.

I stood up and fired one shot and nailed him right in the side of the head.

There was no dramatic fall or anything like that he simply whipped around at the force of the bullet and tumbled into the pit.

_**I killed him. **__ He wasn't even firing at me and I just went ahead and shot him. _

_**But how many of my friends did he kill?**_

I couldn't hear anything else or even see beyond that hole where he had fallen. I was sweating more than I had in my life, even after some of the ball games I had played in. I wanted to just call it a day and have a cold glass of water and a jump into the river. I had done my job for the day. Thistle's shouting brought me back into the battle.

"Flesson we're pushin ahead mate, we're gonna try and take that town."

He tugged at the sleeve of my jacket and pulled me away out of the hole. Grib was already a few paces ahead, firing from his rifle.

"Lt Splitpaw is just up ahead fellas, we can regroup with the rest of the company once we hit the outskirts."

We continued to jog ahead firing potshots and just trying to stay low to the ground. We didn't stop until we reached the entrance to the town. We saw Splitpaw and another half dozen beasts crouched behind a low brick hut. Splitpaw had a homemade cigarette clenched in his teeth and fired a short burst from his Tommy Gun as we approached. We fell in behind the others and they managed to make some room.

"Whats….. Going on… leftenant," I replied clearly out of breath.

Splitpaw peered out from around the corner of the hut and quickly drew his head back. He took a long drag from his cigarette before coughing his head off. He looked at the poorly made smoke and promptly threw it to the ground.

"Last time I try and smoke a palm leaf," he managed to spit out. Then he turned and noticed us for the first time. Glancing around at the nine of us, he gave his report of the situation.

"Right now we're on one of the side streets. The main road is in the same direction as the entrance to the actual Pass ." Most of the second battalion should be comin in from that ways. They've got some machine guns, 42's by the sound of em, that are aimed down the next street."

He peered out over the edge again and made sure he was right. A quick nod confirmed his suspicions.

"Yep they're not aimed this way. Shouldn't be too hard to clear out. We knock em out and then try and link up with Mavrel and the Captain. Stay low and try and move through these alleyways. We'll jump em beautifully from behind."

He took one last glance down the street and motioned for us to follow him. Wordlessly we followed in a loose formation, ducking behind trash cans, market stalls, and road signs as we weaved in and out of the alleys and side streets. In a few minutes we found ourselves crouched about 50 feet or so behind the two machine guns using an old saloon, ( at least, that's what it smelled like.) Aside from the four beasts on the machine gun crew, another two were crouched over the parapet with rifles. They were completely oblivious to our presence. Splitpaw signaled two beasts over to him. Two otters did as they were told and I noticed that they had BAR's across their chests. After whispering a few instructions, they split up, one staying with the Lt and another headed over towards our side of the building. Splitpaw approached us and rapidly whispered his orders.

"Right Flesson you and Grib and Kelp and Branchtail here sweep around this side of the bar and start pouring it on. When they swivel to face you, we're gonna pop out from behind em and have the perfect pincer. Basterds won't know what hit em. Wait tight for my signal."

He patted my helmet a few times and crept back over to where the other soldiers were waiting explaining the plan yet again. Kelp the otter inserted a fresh clip into his BAR and sidled his way past me Grib, and Branchtail the squirrel. He looked over at the Lt, waiting for the signal. I clutched my rifle and tensed my legs ready to spring into action.

I too turned my heat and stared at the Lt. He had his paw above his heat and I could see he was quaking from holding it up. Suddenly it dropped! We shot out like a mortar screaming bloody murder and firing as fast as we could. I was pretty sure that the wolves knew we were here now. Kelp nailed the gunner closest to us with a steady stream of bullets that knocked him back a few paces. After a few wide shots, I hit one of the wolves with a rifle who went down screaming and clutching his side. From the corner of my eye, I saw Splitpaw and the others rush from behind and simultaneously fire at the remaining wolves. We scaled the small stairs attached to the side of the flat roofed house and observed our handiwork. All of the wolves lay sprawled out dead on the rooftop, a few with their eyes wide open from shock. To my knowledge not one of them managed to get off a single shot. The plan went off perfectly. However there was no time to rest.

"Good work everybeast, perfect form all of you," said Splitpaw. He was going around to all of us and clapping us on the back and nodding his approval. We returned his nods and grinned. We had done a damn good job.

"Drink some water and just make sure everything is in place. Take 5 minutes rest and then we'll move. Try and find some shade, its startin to get hotter."

Splitpaw finished his orders and went off to rest under a bright purple awning. He removed a leaf from a small pouch, ( and I couldn't help but wonder how many more he had tucked away inside it,) and proceeded to try and roll another cigarette. I found a cool spot in the doorway of a barbershop, ( that surprisingly had a spinning pole and everything) and removed my helmet. A good third of my canteen went over my head.

_This is shaping out to be quite the day. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for such a long-ass delay. My computer has been screwy and I've been more worried about finals and final papers than anything else. In any case, please read, enjoy and review if possible. **

The day wasn't over though, not by a long shot.

Just as I was settling into the cool, dark gloom of the barber's doorway, I heard the unmistakable groan of gears grinding and an engine humming. I peered out from my shady spot, and stared down the road from whence we had came. I figured that it must be one of our tanks or trucks, considering we had secured this area of town.

Of course, it wasn't.

"PANZER!" screamed somebody and instantly we all grabbed our gear and scrambled to get the hell out of there. I clambered out from the shade of the doorway, onto the hot dusty street and narrowly avoided being run over by Kelp who dashed off with the rest of our band. His momentum did knock me down however and I hit the ground, my helmet flying off and my rifle falling on the ground next to me. Somebody screamed behind me and as I turned I saw a rattle of machinegun bullets hit the unfortunate soldier, a vole, as he crumpled to the ground. Quickly, I got up and placed my helmet back on. I was just reaching for my rifle when the Panzer fired.

"BOOOOOM!"

I was completely deafened and again was knocked over at the shock. The barbershop where I was sitting moments before was now missing most of the roof. The remnants of the pole were strewn all over the ground. I remember being dazed and staggering around in the direction of where every beast had started running. Lucky for me, Splitpaw had stayed behind to make sure everyone beat a hasty retreat and must have seen me. He grabbed my shoulder and thrust my rifle into my paws and we started to run down the street as fast as we could go. Ahead I could see the rest of the platoon waving us on from a side street, much to small for a tank or even car to squeeze through. Splitpaw had let go of me and he pulled ahead of me. In my speed I nearly ran past the alley and skidded to try and stop myself. I just managed to slide in and two beast helped me up and dusted me off. I was breathing heavy and again drenched in sweat. We were all packed so tightly in the alley that the little shade it had was nullified by the stench of sweat and how close we were to each other. Splitpaw again was at the entrance although he didn't spend much time observing now. Paws on his knees, he managed to lift one up and wave us down the alley.

Those back streets twisted and turned every which way. The lieutenant constantly checked and rechecked his map and curse and swore every time. We had been wandering for about ten minutes when he irritably told us to take five minutes rest. Splitpaw sulked off and using an old bench as a table started scratching marks on the map. The rest of us gratefully collapsed wherever we stood. The heat and retreat from the Panzer had left every beast exhausted. Grib slid down the wall next to me, turned and panted in my direction.

"Where's….. the… restofem."

"Dunno….. Mate," I managed to pant back in reply. We turned away from each other and collapsed back against the wall. I stared at the cloudless sky and wished for some damn rain or at least some overcast weather. I couldn't help but think back to that road along the coast that first day and how clear the water was.

_What I wouldn't give to be splashing around on the beach, instead of sweating and trying not to get blown up! _

_**How many times have I said that? **_

Splitpaw came hustling up to us apparently fit, fresh and now orienteered. Confidently he spoke.

"Here's the plan boys, we're only a mile or so from the city limits." We'll stick to these side streets for now,….

Everybeast let out a groan. The rat next to me flung a sweaty, grimy looking rag at the wall just next to the Lt. He shot the rat a fierce glare, adjusted himself, and continued to speak.

"But only for the next quarter mile or so. After that, we should be behind our own lines and we can finally regroup with the rest of the company. Hopefully we can get the hell out of this town once we regroup."

He clapped his paws and turned to grab his equipment.

"What about the Panzer leftenant," Thistle shouted.

"It's probably on the other side of town. That's why we took the side streets" He had now strapped his pack back on and started to march down the alley. We all turned and looked at one another, the same expression of worry mixed with fatigue on our dirty faces.

_**I sure hope he's right**_


End file.
